Haiti earthquake: One year later

A year to the day after the tragic Haiti earthquake, Friends of the Children of Haiti is offering medical care, food and assistance to help build a better life for Haitians.

Josh Bradshaw

As dawn broke Wednesday in Cyvadier, Haiti, the crisp air was filled with singing and prayer. Haitians shaded their tearful eyes from the harsh morning sun.

Retired church deacon Dick Hammond, 74, a former resident of Bartonville, Ill., ambled up the path where a large crowd of about 200 Haitians had gathered to wait for medical care at the Friends of the Children of Haiti clinic. This clinic is his life’s work, along with his wife, Barb, and he claims the Haitian people as his own.

“I am a Haitian,” he says. “These are my people.”

One year ago to the day, the same ground shook under Hammond’s feet as a 7.0-magnitude earthquake ultimately claimed the lives of nearly a quarter of a million people, leaving millions on the tiny island nation injured or homeless.

This morning, the FOTCOH founder stands among the other earthquake survivors with one purpose — to pray with them. As Hammond announces his intent, a handful move beside him and lead the rest of the crowd in spiritual singing and prayers in Haitian Creole, the native language of the island.

“I didn’t have to open my mouth — that was just beautiful,” Hammond said of the spirit of the Haitian people. “I thought I was going to have to pray, and I didn’t have to. They did it with me.”

At 6:30 a.m. ET, the workday had just begun at the FOTCOH clinic building, located just outside Jacmel, a small town on the southern coast. The all-volunteer medical clinic, based out of central Illinois, has served almost 16,000 patients since the quake — and 275 on Tuesday alone.

Since 1985, FOTCOH has provided care for the sick and injured. The Hammonds began the effort with a few volunteers working out of a pickup truck.

Today, a modern, three-story facility affords primary care, a lab, a pharmacy and dental and surgical programs to over 15,000 patients per year.

Careful monitoring of treatment and outcomes indicate that the overall health is improving among the population served by the organization. For Haitians, better health means a chance at a better life.

FOTCOH’s approach has many facets, as FOTCOH President Eric Behrens notes. The group’s Medika Mamba and child sponsorship programs are aimed at fighting malnutrition and giving children a chance at an education.

And a new partnership with FilterPure, a non-profit founded by an Illinois woman, will provide many Haitians their first access to clean drinking water via clay water filters produced at the FOTCOH clinic.

The clinic building itself was constructed by Haitian workers and provides regular employment for about 35 local residents.

Alphonse Elyse, a translator for FOTCOH, lost his previous job as a result of the earthquake. The 80 percent pre-earthquake unemployment rate had left him with few options to provide for himself and his family.

“Everything is broken down. Almost everybody lives in tents, and they can’t find food or clean water,” he said.

Elyse, a pastor, rides a motor-scooter taxi an hour from his village of Carrefour Pingoin to get to the clinic. On today’s commute, he said he heard crying coming from the ramshackle homes along the main road.

“Haiti is very sad this morning,” Elyse said. “People are putting up pictures of their family members who died in the quake.”

Looking forward, Behrens expects that the organization will continue to grow and find new ways to serve the sick and injured of this impoverished nation.

“It’s an honor to be here on the anniversary of their worst catastrophe. The best way we can honor those lost in the earthquake is to continue to provide for them, as we have done since 1985 — working side by side with them, building a better future,” Behrens said. “We’re here to stay.”

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To donate to the Friends of the Children of Haiti:
• Visit www.fotcoh.org
• Call 309-369-2634
• Send checks to Friends of the Children of Haiti,
P.O. Box 789, Peoria, IL 61652